The Power Princess: Ameerah Al-Taweel and Her Work For Women's Rights

Now CEO of Time Entertainment, a premier talent agency in Saudi Arabia, Al-Taweel, photographed in Bel Air, California, hopes she can place more Saudi actresses in powerful roles in television and movies.

Ameerah Al-Taweel's story starts like a Disney script: Raised by her divorced mom and her grandparents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, she landed the opportunity of a lifetime at age 18, when she requested—and got—an interview with Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal for a school paper. Their 10-minute meeting turned into two hours. "We just clicked," she says. He was equally smitten, and nine months later they wed. In most fairy tales that's where the credits would have rolled—with Al-Taweel a bona fide princess, married to one of the 30 richest people in the world. But for her, it was just the beginning: "I didn't want to be that girl who's not doing anything," she says. "I wanted to make an impact."

It wasn't easy. "This is a country where most employers require that women get their guardian's permission to work and where the testimony of one man equals that of two women," says Betty Bernstein-Zabza, senior policy adviser at the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues at the U.S. Department of State. "Public appearances are not something many wives do." Still, Al-Taweel stepped into the spotlight, cohelming Prince Alwaleed's charity, the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundations, and becoming a vocal advocate for women's civil rights—including the right to drive, inherit equally, and retain custody of children after divorce.

This being real life, though, and not a fairy tale, there was another wrinkle: Al-Taweel and the prince divorced last year. It was an amicable split (she still calls her ex her "best friend" and "mentor"), and Al-Taweel never thought of stepping back into private life. Indeed, she's taken to the global stage, working with everyone from President Bill Clinton to Jordan's Queen Rania and the British royal family to advance the rights of women in the Middle East. "Ameerah's advocacy on behalf of Saudi women has provided a tremendous contribution to how we think about the rights of girls and women around the world," says Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation. And Al-Taweel keeps her issues front and center by asking her nearly one million Twitter and Instagram followers to stay involved, most recently by donating vital supplies to Syrian refugees—supplies she then took to the camps herself. "Saudi women are doing incredible things, and we're making progress all the time," she says. "I want to be the one women look to when they tell their daughters, 'Look, she got a divorce and see what she's doing now? She's an independent woman. She's doing something good for her country. She's a role model.'"

Her words to live by: "Throw yourself to the edge that you're always scared of. Try being independent; do it your way. You'll love it."

This story appeared in the May issue of Glamour. Look for it on newsstands April 15, or subscribe now for instant access to the digital edition.